The Buddha was known as The Happy One. Though Joy is one of the Seven Factors of Awakening, with so much emphasis on working with suffering, joy can sometimes seem frivolous or unspiritual. His teaching on attending to the ‘Gladness Connected with the Wholesome’ is a key aspect of Wise Effort and developing a loving heart. We will practice and explore together this foundation for awakening joy.
With James Baraz recorded on January 15, 2023.
Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
-
The Importance of the Uplifting Experience
Recorded :
September 24, 2023 The Buddha taught about life’s suffering—known as ‘dukkha’—and how our personal, social and global issues can weigh us down. Yet dukkha does not have the inherent power to stop ‘sukkha,’ or happiness, from breaking through. In this session, we will explore ‘upliftment’, and the joys that keep our spirit alive. Upliftment of the human spirit…
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of July 18, 2022
This week’s topic is Perfectly Imperfect. “True perfection seems imperfect, yet is perfectly itself.” – Lao Tzu. Expecting life to be perfect is stressful: a beautiful goal like “getting it right” prevents us from developing when it morphs into “never getting anything wrong.” The non-harming noble-truths path of the Dharma may arouse perfectionism, but if carefully followed, can set us free from such entrapment.
-
Intuitive Wisdom and Embodied Love
Recorded :
September 28, 2025 “From my own experience, there is no difference between mindfulness and loving kindness. When you are fully loving, aren’t you also mindful? When you are mindful, is this not also the essence of love?” – Dipa Ma This session will invite us to reconnect with our inner compass by cultivating intuitive mindfulness-the blend of present-moment…
-
Compassion, Emergence and Climate Change
Recorded :
September 19, 2021 This year, humanity has witnessed the alarming acceleration of climate change… the loss of forests and rivers, animal and plant species… and the potential annihilation of our species. Alongside our profound grief for what is changing globally, however, we are also experiencing Emergence. Emergence, the organizing principle of Gaia, can help us to stay present as…
-
Relational mindfulness: how to stay awake in our daily interactions and relationships.
Recorded :
October 2, 2016 It is one thing to deepen our practice through silent sitting meditation or on retreat, but how do we bring our practice into the dynamic, messy, and beautiful field of human relationship? What if our daily interactions offer the perfect gateway for awakening? This dharma talk is about letting go of the needless efforting of…
-
Trusting Impermanence
Recorded :
April 16, 2023 ‘All things fall apart’ was the Buddha’s last teaching before passing away. How can we live peacefully with this universal and challenging truth? In this session, we’ll practice how attuning to change supports letting go.
-
Mindful Intentions: From Pressure to Growth
Recorded :
July 18, 2021 What effect does it have if we practice mindfulness and meditation motivated by the fundamental assumption that there is something wrong with us? Perspectives such as ‘not being good enough’ or being ‘damaged goods’ can turn our practice into a painstaking attempt to improve ourselves. During this session we will inquire into our motivations for…
-
An Open Heart in Hell
Recorded :
September 4, 2022 After a summer of extreme heat, drought and fire, we may well enter the autumn wondering how to manage the grief at our fragile and collapsing ecology. Taking the title An Open Heart in Hell from Nick Mulvey’s recent song “Prayer of my Own“, we’ll use this session to honour the pains of the heart without getting…
Discussion